<\/span><\/h2>\nIf you’re travelling with an organised tour, guides will often warn you not to do this. In some hostels in Uganda, we even came across signs urging tourists not to give anything to local children. “We ask all tourists not to hand out sweets, pens, money, or other items to children in the village. These wonderful kids learn very quickly, and we don’t want to turn them into beggars.”<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/span>Children Reach Out Their Hands and Even Try to Get Into Your Car<\/span><\/h2>\nThe truth is, in most tourist hotspots the damage has already been done. The moment a car full of white tourists appears, children come running \u2014 first waving, then stretching out their hands, gesturing for money. If you’re driving slowly, they’ll run alongside the vehicle, press their faces against the windows, and sometimes even try to climb inside.<\/p>\n
![\"Children](\"https:\/\/www.loudavymkrokem.cz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/IMG_9574-2048x1365.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/p>\n
<\/span>They May Have Nothing, but Sweets Won’t Help<\/span><\/h2>\nSome might argue that these children have nothing, so surely a few sweets can’t hurt. But sweets have never done any child any real good \u2014 and they certainly won’t solve poverty. Just as we teach our own children that nothing in life comes for free, we shouldn’t be teaching children abroad that a white tourist will show up bearing gifts. On top of that, it creates the perception that we’re walking cash machines. It’s no surprise, then, that people in developing countries try to overcharge us \u2014 we’ve been conditioning them to do so since childhood.<\/p>\n
<\/span>How to Actually Help<\/span><\/h2>\nIf you genuinely want to make a difference, there are plenty of healthy ways to support children in need. Simply by spending money locally, you’re already supporting the community. Buy a coconut or a souvenir from their parents. If you want to do more, consider sponsoring a child or a community through one of the many reputable charities. Forget the sweets \u2014 and spread the word instead.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I’ve seen it time and again \u2014 tourists handing out sweets, pens, and money to children in developing countries, thinking they’re helping. In reality, this well-meaning gesture is one of the worst things you can do.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":51516,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","rank_math_title":"Why Never Bring Sweets for Kids in Developing Countries","rank_math_description":"Giving sweets to children in developing countries does more harm than good. Learn why you should stop and discover how to actually help local communities.","rank_math_focus_keyword":"sweets children developing countries","rank_math_seo_score":""},"categories":[331,679,320,384],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-188057","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-africa","8":"category-our-travel-opinions","9":"category-travel","10":"category-uganda"},"acf":[],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/loudavymkrokem.cz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/IMG_9574-scaled.jpg","author_info":{"display_name":"Lucie Kone\u010dn\u00e1","author_link":"https:\/\/loudavymkrokem.cz\/en\/author\/lucie-konecna\/"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/loudavymkrokem.cz\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/188057","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/loudavymkrokem.cz\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/loudavymkrokem.cz\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loudavymkrokem.cz\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loudavymkrokem.cz\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=188057"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/loudavymkrokem.cz\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/188057\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":188059,"href":"https:\/\/loudavymkrokem.cz\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/188057\/revisions\/188059"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loudavymkrokem.cz\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/51516"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/loudavymkrokem.cz\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=188057"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loudavymkrokem.cz\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=188057"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loudavymkrokem.cz\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=188057"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}